Montana’s TikTok ban can save freedom from extinction

In March, I testified before Montana’s House Judiciary Committee about the threat posed by TikTok to Montanans. About a month later, Montana became the first state in the nation to ban this digital weapon of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) statewide and created a model for other states to replicate.

There is a broad bipartisan consensus about the danger TikTok poses to Americans. FBI Director Christopher Wray said the Chinese government “uses TikTok for influence operations” and espionage. Montana’s Attorney General Austin Knudsen accurately called TikTok “a pernicious spying application.”

The threat from TikTok is multifold, but let me emphasize three points.

First, TikTok is owned by a Chinese company called ByteDance, which is controlled by the Chinese government from a legal, structural, governance, and leadership perspective. The CCP’s 1% “golden share” stake in the company effectively gives it control of TikTok’s algorithm.

Furthermore, all Chinese companies and citizens are bound by China’s National Intelligence Law. Under this law, they are forced to turn over all data—proprietary or otherwise—to the Chinese government upon request or suffer draconian consequences. TikTok’s Chinese employees have no choice in the matter.

Second, TikTok is programmed to track your keystrokes to capture personal data, such as your credit card information, driver’s license, bank and medical records, passwords, and location. The Chinese government has been caught red-handed using TikTok to track whistleblowers and reporters in attempts to intimidate them.

TikTok also preys on children. The app is disguised as candy, but it’s really cocaine. In fact, the version of TikTok peddled to American kids is not available in China. Instead, the algorithm of its Chinese version is used for STEM education.

Finally, China uses TikTok as a powerful propaganda and censorship tool to sow discontent and limit your freedom of speech. Just try posting something critical of the CCP’s Uyghur genocide or in favor of Taiwanese independence.

During my tenure as Under Secretary of State, my team built the Clean Network Alliance of Democracies that defeated the CCP’s master plan to control 5G. The Clean Network included a number of other efforts — Clean Carrier, Clean Cloud, Clean Cable, Clean Apps, and Clean Store.

The Clean Store approach, adopted by Montana, is focused on removing untrusted apps, including TikTok, from U.S. mobile app stores, because Chinese apps proliferate viruses, spread propaganda and threaten our national security. Montana’s significant military infrastructure and its residents’ most sensitive personal information must be protected from America’s top foreign adversary.

Here in Montana, you are familiar with the Chinese government’s attempts to spy on Americans. We owe the residents of Billings a big “thank you” for spotting the Chinese surveillance balloon. If the CCP can weaponize a balloon, imagine what it can do with 150 million U.S. TikTok users at its mercy, including hundreds of thousands of Montanans.

President Reagan said, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.”

We live in a world of tyrants determined to bend us to their will. With its TikTok ban, Montana has taken a bold step to protect its citizens from the long reach of Xi Jinping, paving the way for other states to do their part in saving freedom from extinction.

Otherwise, as Reagan warned, “one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”

Keith Krach served as U.S. Under Secretary of State from 2019-21. He is currently the chair of the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue and serves as co-chair of the Global Tech Security Commission. Krach previously served as chair and CEO of DocuSign and Ariba, and chair of the Purdue Board of Trustees.